Conveyer for pig-metal-casting machines



' W. T. HURST. SONVEYER FOR PIG METAL CASTING MACHINES. APPLICAHON FILED FEB. 16, 1920.

1,435,007. Patented Nov. 7, 1922.

6 E D I;

0 o 6 5 at WITNESSES INVENYOR Patented Nov. 7, 1922.

'w'rrinrs r. nunstr; or 'rrrrsnunerr, PENNSYLVANIA, assreuon To sane noon 1 ranonrnn COMPANY, A oonrona'rron or PENNSYLVANIA.

' GONV'EYER FOR PIG lVIETAL- CASTING MACHINES.

Applicatioufilcd February 16,1920. .Serial No. 358,893.

T 0 .ctZZ whom it" may concern v Be it known that I, VVILLTS T. BURST, a resident of Pittsburgh,in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Conveyers for Pig-Metal-Casting-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to machines for easting pig-metal, such as pig-iron and pigcopper, and has particularly to do with the construction of links used in forming the conveyers for such machines.

The pig-metal casting machines contemplated herein are of the well known type in which casting molds, arranged adjacently to each other, are attached at their ends to a pair of endless conveyer chains, which eX- tend over, and are driven by sprocket wheels. Molten metal is poured into the casting molds as the conveyer is continuously driven, the metal usually being subsequently cooled by streams of water poured upon it. At the turnin point of the conveyer, the pigs, so "formec, are successively discharged from the molds.

Due to the severe conditions of service to which such casting machines are subjected,

used it is usually necessary in order to reestablish such connection to disassemble the conveyer chain at the point of the broken connection. This manifestly involves considerable time and expense.

The object of the present invention is to provide a conveyer for pig-metal casting machines so constructed that a broken connection between a mold and a conveyer link may be quickly repaired without the necessity for disconnecting'or disassembling the conveyer chain or the particular link at the point of the broken connection.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, of which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the casting machine conveyer;- Fig. 2 a plan view of a portion of the conveyer; and Fig. 3 a perspective view of a portion of one conveyer chain.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, the casting machine comprises sprocket wheels 1 and 2, between and around which there are two conveyer chains 3 and 4 provided with suitable wheelso adapted to run upon'tracks 6 and 7 arranged: below-the upper and lower extents of; the conveyer chains. 'Between the conveyer chains thereyare arranged suitable casting molds 8, whiclrmay be of any desired form ofconstruction, but which are. preferably of the general shape and arrangement indicated in the drawings.

As seen particularly in Fig. 3, the links of the conveyer chains are each constructed of a pair of side plates 9 and 10 pivotedly connected at their ends by pins 16 to the pairs of plates forming adjacent links. For connecting a casting mold to a link the plates 9 and 10 are provided with medial slots 11 arranged in alignment with each other, and through which slots there extends a moldsupporting bar 12. Preferably the edges of the side plates 9 and 10 are provided with lugs 13, and the slots 11 are formed in such lugs. While the mold-supporting plate 12 may be variously shaped, it is preferably a flat bar of the general form indicated in the rawings, it being provided at one end with an enlarged head 14 which abuts against the side of one of the link plates. The other end of the bar 12 is attachable to a mold, and for this purpose the bar may be provided with a hole or holes 15 adapted to receive suitable bolts or other mold-connecting members 17.

When a connection between the mold and a bar 12 is broken, and the break is of such character that the same or a new mold cannot be attached to the plate, it is only necessary to remove the bar 12 from the link and substitute a new bar for it. Such removal of the bar may be easily affected by removing the bar longitudinally through the slots 11. Thus there is eliminated the necessity, which characterizes the forms of conveyer chains now usually used for this purpose, of disassembling the link either for the purpose of substituting a new link or a new mold-supporting bar.

According to the provisions of the patent statues, I have described the principle and operation of my invention together with the construction which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, my invention may be practiced by other forms of construction than that specifically shown and described herein.

1 claim as my invention 1. In a conveyer for a pig-metal casting machine the combination of a series of links pivotally connected to each other at their ends and including a link comprising a pair of side plates each provided at their edges with medial slots, the twoslots of a link being in alignment with each other, and a mold supporting bar longitudinally movable through saidslots while the conveyer isassembled and non-rotatable in said slots, said bar being provided with an enlarged head at one end and being attachable at its other end to a casting mold.

2. In a conveyor for a pig-metal casting machine, the combination of a series of links pivotally connected to each other at their ends and including a link comprising a pair ofside plates, each plate having a lug formed on its edges, said lugs being provided with slots in alignment with each other, and a mold-supporting flat bar longitudinally movable through said slots while the con- WILLIS T, HUR'ST.

Witness ALICE A; TRILL. 

